Chapter 52

19:2. And Jonathan told David, saying: Saul, my father, seeketh to kill thee: wherefore look to thyself, I beseech thee, in the morning and thou shalt abide in a secret place, and shalt be hid.

19:3. And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou art: and I will speak of thee to my father, and whatsoever I shall see, I will tell thee.

19:4. And Jonathan spoke good things of David to Saul, his father: and said to him: Sin not, O king, against thy servant, David, because he hath not sinned against thee, and his works are very good towards thee.

19:5. And he put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the Lord wrought great salvation for all Israel. Thou sawest it and didst rejoice. Why therefore wilt thou sin against innocent blood, by killing David, who is without fault?

19:6. And when Saul heard this, he was appeased with the words of Jonathan, and swore: As the Lord liveth, he shall not be slain.

19:7. Then Jonathan called David, and told him all these words: and Jonathan brought in David to Saul, and he was before him, as he had been yesterday and the day before.

19:8. And the war began again, and David went out, and fought against the Philistines, and defeated them with a great slaughter, and they fled from his face.

19:9. And the evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul; and he sat in his house, and held a spear in his hand: and David played with his hand.

19:10. And Saul endeavoured to nail David to the wall with his spear. And David slipt away out of the presence of Saul: and the spear missed him, and was fastened in the wall, and David fled, and escaped that night.

19:11. Saul therefore sent his guards to David's house to watch him, that he might be killed in the morning. And when Michol, David's wife, had told him this, saying: Unless thou save thyself this night, to morrow thou wilt die:

19:12. She let him down through a window. And he went and fled away, and escaped.

19:13. And Michol took an image, and laid it on the bed, and put a goat's skin, with the hair at the head of it, and covered it with clothes.

19:14. And Saul sent officers to seize David; and it was answered that he was sick.

19:15. And again Saul sent to see David, saying: Bring him to me in the bed, that he may be slain.

19:16. And when the messengers were come in, they found an image upon the bed, and a goat skin at his head.

19:17. And Saul said to Michol: Why hast thou deceived me so, and let my enemy go and flee away? And Michol answered Saul: Because he said to me: Let me go, or else I will kill thee.

19:18. But David fled and escaped, and came to Samuel in Ramatha, and told him all that Saul had done to him: and he and Samuel went and dwelt in Najoth.

Najoth. . .It was probably a school or college of prophets, in or near Ramath under the direction of Samuel.

19:19. And it was told Saul by some, saying: Behold David is in Najoth, in Ramatha.

19:20. So Saul sent officers to take David: and when they saw a company of prophets prophesying, and Samuel presiding over them, the Spirit of the Lord came also upon them, and they likewise began to prophesy.

Prophesying. . .That is, singing praises to God by a divine impulse. God was pleased on this occasion that both Samuel's messengers and himself should experience the like impulse, that he might understand, by this instance of the divine power, how vain are the designs of man against him whom God protects.

19:21. And when this was told Saul, he sent other messengers: but they also prophesied. And again Saul sent messengers the third time: and they prophesied also. And Saul being exceeding angry,

19:22. Went also himself to Ramatha, and came as far as the great cistern, which is in Socho, and he asked, and said: In what place are Samuel and David? And it was told him: Behold they are in Najoth, in Ramatha.

19:23. And he went to Najoth, in Ramatha, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied till he came to Najoth, in Ramatha.

19:24. And he stripped himself also of his garments, and prophesied with the rest before Samuel, and lay down naked all that day and night. This gave occasion to a proverb: What! is Saul too among the prophets?

1 Kings Chapter 20

Saul being obstinately bent upon killing David, he is sent away by Jonathan.

20:1. But David fled from Najoth, which is in Ramatha, and came and said to Jonathan: What have I done? what is my iniquity, and what is my sin against thy father, that he seeketh my life?

20:2. And he said to him: (God forbid, thou shalt not die: for my father will do nothing, great or little, without first telling me: hath then my father hid this word only from me? no, this shall not be.

20:3. And he swore again to David. And David said: Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight, and he will say: Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved. But truly as the Lord liveth, and thy soul liveth, there is but one step (as I may say) between me and death.

20:4. And Jonathan said to David: Whatsoever thy soul shall say to me, I will do for thee.

20:5. And David said to Jonathan: Behold to morrow is the new moon, and I, according to custom, am wont to sit beside the king to eat: let me go then that I may be hid in the field till the evening of the third day.

To morrow is the new moon. . .The neomenia, or first day of the moon, kept according to the law, as a festival; and therefore Saul feasted on that day: and expected the attendance of his family.

20:6. If thy father look and inquire for me, thou shalt answer him: David asked me that he might run to Bethlehem, his own city: because there are solemn sacrifices there for all of his tribe.

20:7. If he shall say: It is well: thy servant shall have peace: but if he be angry, know that his malice is come to its height.

20:8. Deal mercifully then with thy servant: for thou hast brought me, thy servant, into a covenant of the Lord with thee. But if there be any iniquity in me, do thou kill me, and bring me not in to thy father.

20:9. And Jonathan said: Far be this from thee: for if I should certainly know that evil is determined by my father against thee, I could do no otherwise than tell thee.

20:10. And David answered Jonathan: Who shall bring me word, if thy father should answer thee harshly concerning me?

20:11. And Jonathan said to David: Come, and let us go out into the field. And when they were both of them gone out into the field,

20:12. Jonathan said to David: O Lord God of Israel, if I shall discover my father's mind, to morrow, or the day after, and there be any thing good for David, and I send not immediately to thee, and make it known to thee,

20:13. May the Lord do so and so to Jonathan, and add still more. But if my father shall continue in malice against thee, I will discover it to thy ear, and will send thee away, that thou mayst go in peace, and the Lord be with thee, as he hath been with my father.

20:14. And if I live, thou shalt shew me the kindness of the Lord: but if I die,

20:15. Thou shalt not take away thy kindness from my house for ever, when the Lord shall have rooted out the enemies of David, every one of them from the earth, may he take away Jonathan from his house, and may the Lord require it at the hands of David's enemies.

May he take away Jonathan, etc. . .It is a curse upon himself, if he should not be faithful to his promise.--Ibid. Require it, etc. . .That is, revenge it upon David's enemies, and upon me, if I should fail of my word given to him.

20:16. Jonathan therefore made a covenant with the house of David: and the Lord required it at the hands of David's enemies.

20:17. And Jonathan swore again to David, because he loved him: for he loved him as his own soul.

20:18. And Jonathan said to him: To morrow is the new moon, and thou wilt be missed:

20:19. For thy seat will be empty till after to morrow. So thou shalt go down quickly, and come to the place where thou must he hid, on the day when it is lawful to work, and thou shalt remain beside the stone, which is called Ezel.

20:20. And I will shoot three arrows near it, and will shoot as if I were exercising myself at a mark.

20:21. And I will send a boy, saying to him: Go and fetch me the arrows.

20:22. If I shall say to the boy: Behold the arrows are on this side of thee, take them up: come thou to me, because there is peace to thee, and there is no evil, as the Lord liveth. But if I shall speak thus to the boy: Behold the arrows are beyond thee: go in peace, for the Lord hath sent thee away.

20:23. And concerning the word which I and thou have spoken, the Lord be between thee and me forever.

20:24. So David was hid in the field, and the new moon came, and the king sat down to eat bread.

20:25. And when the king sat down upon his chair, (according to custom) which was beside the wall, Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul's side, and David's place appeared empty.

20:26. And Saul said nothing that day, for he thought it might have happened to him, that he was not clean, nor purified.

20:27. And when the second day after the new moon was come, David's place appeared empty again. And Saul said to Jonathan, his son: Why cometh not the son of Isai to meat neither yesterday, nor to day?

20:28. And Jonathan answered Saul: He asked leave of me earnestly to go to Bethlehem.

20:29. And he said: Let me go, for there is a solemn sacrifice in the city, one of my brethren hath sent for me: and now if I have found favour in thy eyes, I will go quickly, and see my brethren. For this cause he came not to the king's table.

20:30. Then Saul being angry against Jonathan, said to him: Thou son of a woman that is the ravisher of a man, do I not know that thou lovest the son of Isai to thy own confusion, and to the confusion of thy shameless mother?

20:31. For as long as the son of Isai liveth upon earth, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Therefore now presently send, and fetch him to me: for he is the son of death.

The son of death. . .That is, one that deserveth death, and shall surely be put to death.

20:32. And Jonathan answering Saul, his father, said: Why shall he die? What hath he done?

20:33. And Saul caught up a spear to strike him. And Jonathan understood that it was determined by his father to kill David.

20:34. So Jonathan rose from the table in great anger, and did not eat bread on the second day after the new moon. For he was grieved for David, because his father had put him to confusion.

20:35. And when the morning came, Jonathan went into the field according to the appointment with David, and a little boy with him.

20:36. And he said to his boy: Go, and fetch me the arrows which I shoot. And when the boy ran, he shot another arrow beyond the boy.

20:37. The boy therefore came to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot: and Jonathan cried after the boy, and said: Behold the arrow is there further beyond thee.

20:38. And Jonathan cried again after the boy, saying: Make haste speedily, stand not. And Jonathan's boy gathered up the arrows, and brought them to his master:

20:39. And he knew not at all what was doing: for only Jonathan and David knew the matter.

20:40. Jonathan therefore gave his arms to the boy, and said to him: Go, and carry them into the city.

20:41. And when the boy was gone, David rose out of his place, which was toward the south, and falling on his face to the ground, adored thrice: and kissing one another, they wept together; but David more.

20:42. And Jonathan said to David: Go in peace: and let all stand that we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, saying: The Lord be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever.

20:43. And David arose, and departed: and Jonathan went into the city.

1 Kings Chapter 21

David receiveth holy bread of Achimelech, the priest: and feigneth himself mad before Achis, king of Geth.

21:1. And David came to Nobe, to Achimelech, the priest and Achimelech was astonished at David's coming. And he said to him: Why art thou alone, and no man with thee?

Nobe. . .A city in the tribe of Benjamin, to which the tabernacle of the Lord had been translated from Silo.

21:2. And David said to Achimelech, the priest: The king hath commanded me a business, and said: Let no man know the thing for which thou art sent by me, and what manner of commands I have given thee: and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place.

21:3. Now therefore if thou have any thing at hand, though it were but five loaves, give me, or whatsoever thou canst find.

21:4. And the priest answered David, saying: I have no common bread at hand, but only holy bread, if the young men be clean, especially from women?

If the young men be clean, etc. . .If this cleanness was required of them that were to eat that bread, which was a figure of the bread of life which we receive in the blessed sacrament; how clean ought Christians to be when they approach to our tremendous mysteries. And what reason hath the church of God to admit none to be her ministers to consecrate and daily receive this most pure sacrament, but such as devote themselves to a life of perpetual purity.

21:5. And David answered the priest, and said to him: Truly, as to what concerneth women, we have refrained ourselves from yesterday and the day before, when we came out, and the vessels of the young men were holy. Now this way is defiled, but it shall also be sanctified this day in the vessels.

The vessels. . .i. e., the bodies, have been holy, that is, have been kept from impurity.--Ibid. Is defiled. . .Is liable to expose us to dangers of uncleanness.--Ibid. Be sanctified, etc. . .That is, we shall take care, notwithstanding these dangerous circumstances, to keep our vessels holy, that is, to keep our bodies from every thing that may defile us.

21:6. The priest therefore gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there, but only the loaves of proposition, which had been taken away from before the face of the Lord, that hot loaves might be set up.

21:7. Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, within the tabernacle of the Lord: and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of Saul's herdsmen.

21:8. And David said to Achimelech: Hast thou here at hand a spear, or a sword? for I brought not my own sword, nor my own weapons with me, for the king's business required haste.

21:9. And the priest said: Lo, here is the sword of Goliath, the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Terebinth, wrapped up in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take this, take it, for here there is no other but this. And David said: There is none like that, give it me.

21:10. And David arose and fled that day from the face of Saul: and came to Achis, the king of Geth:

21:11. And the servants of Achis, when they saw David, said to him: Is not this David, the king of the land? Did they not sing to him in their dances, saying: Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

21:12. But David laid up these words in his heart, and was exceedingly afraid at the face of Achis, the king of Geth.

21:13. And he changed his countenance before them, and slipt down between their hands: and he stumbled against the doors of the gate, and his spittle ran down upon his beard.

21:14. And Achis said to his servants: You saw the man was mad: why have you brought him to me?

21:15. Have we need of mad men, that you have brought in this fellow, to play the madman in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?

1 Kings Chapter 22

Many resort to David. Doeg accuseth Achimelech to Saul. He ordereth him and all the other priests of Nobe to be slain. Abiathar escapeth.

22:1. David therefore went from thence, and fled to the cave of Odollam. And when his brethren, and all his father's house, had heard of it, they went down to him thither.

22:2. And all that were in distress, and oppressed with debt, and under affliction of mind, gathered themselves unto him: and he became their prince, and there were with him about four hundred men.

22:3. And David departed from thence into Maspha of Moab: and he said to the king of Moab: Let my father and my mother tarry with you, I beseech thee, till I know what God will do for me.

22:4. And he left them under the eyes of the king of Moab, and they abode with him all the days that David was in the hold.

The hold. . .The strong hold, or fortress of Maspha.

22:5. And Gad the prophet said to David: Abide not in the hold, depart, and go into the land of Juda. And David departed, and came into the forest of Haret.

22:6. And SauI heard that David was seen, and the men that were with him. Now whilst Saul abode in Gabaa, and was in the wood, which is by Rama, having his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him,

22:7. He said to his servants that stood about him: Hear me now, ye sons of Jemini: will the son of Isai give every one of you fields, and vineyards, and make you all tribunes, and centurions:

22:8. That all of you have conspired against me, and there is no one to inform me, especially when even my son hath entered into league with the son of Isai? There is not one of you that pitieth my case, nor that giveth me any information: because my son hath raised up my servant against me, plotting against me to this day.

22:9. And Doeg, the Edomite, who stood by, and was the chief among the servants of Saul, answering, said: I saw the son of Isai, in Nobe, with Achimelech, the son of Achitob, the priest.

22:10. And he consulted the Lord for him, and gave him victuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath, the Philistine.

22:11. Then the king sent to call for Achimelech, the priest, the son of Achitob, and all his father's house, the priests that were in Nobe, and they came all of them to the king.

22:12. And Saul said to Achimelech: Hear, thou son of Achitob. He answered: Here I am, my lord.

22:13. And Saul said to him: Why have you conspired against me, thou, and the son of Isai, and thou hast given him bread and a sword, and hast consulted the Lord for him, that he should rise up against me, continuing a traitor to this day.

22:14. And Achimelech answering the king, said: And who amongst all thy servants is so faithful as David, who is the king's son in law, and goeth forth at thy bidding, and is honourable in thy house?

22:15. Did I begin to day to consult the Lord for him? far be this from me: let not the king suspect such a thing against his servant, or any one in all my father's house: for thy servant knew nothing of this matter, either little or great.

22:16. And the king said: Dying thou shalt die, Achimelech, thou and all thy father's house.

22:17. And the king said to the messengers that stood about him: Turn, and kill the priests of the Lord, for their hand is with David, because they knew that he was fled, and they told it not to me. And the king's servants would not put forth their hands against the priests of the Lord.

22:18. And the king said to Doeg: Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg, the Edomite, turned, and fell upon the priests, and slew in that day eighty-five men that wore the linen ephod.

22:19. And Nobe, the city of the priests, he smote with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and ox, and ass, and sheep, with the edge of the sword.

22:20. But one of the sons of Achimelech, the son of Achitob, whose name was Abiathar, escaped, and fled to David,

22:21. And told him that Saul had slain the priests of the Lord.

22:22. And David said to Abiathar: I knew that day when Doeg, the Edomite, was there, that without doubt he would tell Saul: I have been the occasion of the death of all the souls of thy father's house.

22:23. Abide thou with me, fear not: for he that seeketh my life, seeketh thy life also, and with me thou shalt be saved.

1 Kings Chapter 23

David relieveth Ceila, besieged by the Philistines. He fleeth into the desert of Ziph. Jonathan and he confirm their former covenant. The Ziphites discover him to Saul, who pursuing close after him, is called away by an invasion from the Philistines.

23:1. And they told David, saying: Behold the Philistines fight against Ceila, and they rob the barns.

23:2. Therefore David consulted the Lord, saying: Shall I go and smite these Philistines? And the Lord said to David: Go, and thou shalt smite the Philistines, and shalt save Ceila.

23:3. And the men that were with David, said to him: Behold we are in fear here in Judea, how much more if we go to Ceila against the bands of the Philistines?

23:4. Therefore David consulted the Lord again. And he answered and said to him: Arise, and go to Ceila: for I will deliver the Philistines into thy hand.

23:5. David, therefore, and his men, went to Ceila, and fought against the Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and made a great slaughter of them: and David saved the inhabitants of Ceila.

23:6. Now at that time, when Abiathar, the son of Achimelech, fled to David, to Ceila, he came down, having an ephod with him.

An ephod. . .Or the ephod. That is, the vestment of the high priest, with the urim and thummim, by which the Lord gave his oracle.

23:7. And it was told Saul that David was come to Ceila: and Saul said: The Lord hath delivered him into my hands, and he is shut up, being come into a city that hath gates and bars.

23:8. And Saul commanded all the people to go down to fight against Ceila, and to besiege David and his men.

23:9. Now when David understood that Saul secretly prepared evil against him, he said to Abiathar, the priest: Bring hither the ephod.

23:10. And David said: O Lord God of Israel, thy servant hath heard a report, that Saul designeth to come to Ceila, to destroy the city for my sake:

23:11. Will the men of Ceila deliver me into his hands? and will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? O Lord God of Israel, tell thy servant. And the Lord said: He will come down.

23:12. And David said: Will the men of Ceila deliver me and my men into the hands of Saul? And the Lord said: They will deliver thee up.

23:13. Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose, and departing from Ceila, wandered up and down, uncertain where they should stay: and it was told Saul that David was fled from Ceila, and had escaped: wherefore he forbore to go out.

23:14. But David abode in the desert in strong holds, and he remained in a mountain of the desert of Ziph, in a woody hill. And Saul sought him always: but the Lord delivered him not into his hands.

23:15. And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life. And David was in the desert of Ziph, in a wood.

23:16. And Jonathan, the son of Saul, arose, and went to David, into the wood, and strengthened his hands in God: and he said to him:

23:17. Fear not: for the hand of my father, Saul, shall not find thee, and thou shalt reign over Israel, and I shall be next to thee; yea and my father knoweth this.

23:18. And they two made a covenant before the Lord: and David abode in the wood: but Jonathan returned to his house.

23:19. And the Ziphites went up to Saul, in Gabaa, saying: Lo, doth not David lie hid with us in the strong holds of the wood, in mount Hachila, which is on the right hand of the desert.

23:20. Now therefore come down, as thy soul hath desired to come down: and it shall be our business to deliver him into the king's hands.

23:21. And Saul said: Blessed be ye of the Lord, for you have pitied my case.

23:22. Go, therefore, I pray you, and use all diligence, and curiously inquire, and consider the place where his foot is, and who hath seen him there: for he thinketh of me, that I lie craftily in wait for him.